The fourth meeting of the government-civilian consultative panel on compensation for Japan’s wartime forced labor victims is likely to be the last.

A foreign ministry official told reporters on Tuesday that after the fourth meeting of government officials and private sector experts held earlier in the day, the government is unlikely to reconvene the panel.

The official said the government will continue to communicate with the victims, legal counsel and support groups through a broader effort to collect opinions in order to sincerely and promptly devise a solution, but did not elaborate.

The government held four rounds of such talks from June 4 with the participation of former government officials and experts from the academic and legal sectors as well as the media.

Victims and their support groups were invited to participate but pulled out after feeling slighted by the foreign ministry’s push to resolve the issue diplomatically.